Yoshino's house
by Articfreezer
Summary: Shidou decides to reward Yoshino for helping him out with his chores. Yoshino's request is to...play house? Well, it's just a children's game. How bad can it be?
1. A Favor

**I'm not entirely caught up on the series. If I went OOC or anything, let me know!**

"Thanks again for helping me with the chores today, Yoshino." Shidou said gently to the small blue-haired girl, lightly petting her head. Yoshino, the girl in question, closed her eyes and let out a satisfied purr, enjoying the feeling of getting petted.

"Muu~ Shidou-kun! Yoshinon worked hard too!" announced a voice from the girl's left hand. Yoshinon, Yoshino's rabbit puppet, was something that appeared to have a mind of its own. Although to be more accurate it represented a different part of Yoshino, a personality that greatly differed from its master's normal demeanor, but undoubtedly still represented her as a person.

That being said, Yoshinon seemed insistent on the fact that it was its own being, and the things it said and did were not always of Yoshino's will.

"Right, right." Shidou gave a chuckle in acknowledgment to the puppet as he patted the top of its head between the ears. "You did well too, Yoshinon."

"Ooh! Shidou-kun! That's the spot!" Yoshinon cried out, waving its arms wildly.

Shidou laughed and look back at his house. Compared to how it was before, the place looked fantastic. Ever since his parents left and he was put in charge, he had begun to experience the horror of modern-day housekeepers. Specks of dust and litter from his little sister Kotori's candy wrappers haunted his visions. Indeed, a dirty corner of the room, a spot that would likely go unnoticed in a house party, stood out to him as if it had a giant glowing neon sign pointed to it.

It didn't help that his little sister was actually the leader of a top-secret organization that made him a pawn to her every whim either.

Shidou sighed at the brief memory. He still didn't quite grasp the entire concept, no matter how long he's been at it. One moment he was just an ordinary high school boy, trying to get by this difficult time of life filled with abnormal dangers such as the spacequakes-

The next he was being shot at, caught in explosions, braving blizzards, trying to avoid getting eaten, preventing worldly catastrophic events by making girls fall for him, and on top of all that- he still had high school to deal with

No, it wasn't something he asked for. He had his cute imouto to thank for that.

So it really wasn't his fault that he never had time to clean. Kotori, incidentally, never quite seemed to be in a cleaning mood.

Last night was the worst. He had to stay after school to take a test he could not take due to a spacequake warning going off, and on Kotori's assurance that it was "nothing serious", he took shelter with the civilians but could not help but think what was going on. Then the test itself was harder than he thought, because of his inadequate studying. When all was said and done it was pretty late and he was mentally exhausted, but upon arriving home-

"Oh, sorry." The evil smirk of his red-headed sibling greeted him. "Their seemed to be an issue with the girls today. Yoshino woke up while I was play…er…um…Reine was…using…Yoshinon and well, things happened and we almost caused her to go inverse. In any case," She continued casually looking at the sky. "She made quite the rainstorm. The rain fell on Tohka's ice cream too, and that caused us some trouble as well, so I just led her to our house and promised her that she could eat everything in our refrigerator.

But…I guess that must her made a little bit too excited…" Kotori trailed of uneasily, as she stepped away to let Shidou look inside.

The sight of muddy footprints, furniture that looked as if it had been blown by a tornado, and a tall pile of dishes in the sink that precariously looked like at any moment it would topple over and break was all Shidou could remember before he blacked out.

The next morning was thankfully a Saturday. When he woke up, however Kotori gave him the task of cleaning the place out.

"Oh I'd _love_ to help out too Onii-Chan." She said. "But, um, I have to be on the ship today, you know! Right! What would the people on the Fraxinus do without me? Hey, cut me some slack." She added when she saw Shidou's pitiful face. "I had to deal with two spirits yesterday!"

Spirits. They were the girls causing the spacequakes. And there were only two known ways of dealing with them. Eliminate them-

Or make them fall in love with him. It was unclear to him as to how exactly it would work, but some way or another getting the spirits to fall in love with him and kissing them would seal their powers, turning them into normal girls.

He didn't quite like it, but the spirits were normal girls. In fact he felt that they were just as human as anyone. He wanted to save theses spirits and let them live the joys of everyday life. Even if it meant having every one of them falling in love with him, which would surely lead to problems in the future…

Well, he hadn't quite figured out that part yet. Better to leave that for later, he thought.

"…Shidou-…san?" The small blue-haired girl spoke up to him, snapping him out of his brooding. Hastily, he put on a smile and patted her head.

"Don't worry about it. I was just amazed and how well we cleaned the place up." He told her.

It was true. The dirty footprints, the litter, the dishes, the furniture, and even that annoying spot in the corner had all been cleaned to perfection. He was grateful Yoshino decided to stop by and help him, because she really helped out. Originally he had heard Tohka was going to help out as well, but according to Yoshino, the dark-haired girl responsible for the empty refrigerator in his house had collapsed of hunger.

"Muhu~ That's right, Shidou-Kun!" Yoshinon answered him. "As expected of Yoshino! Hey, hey, don't you think Yoshino would make a good wife one day?"

"Y-Yoshinon!" Yoshino hastily covered the puppet's mouth with her right hand, blushing furiously. Shidou gave a start to the unexpected question, but gave the pair a relaxed smile. He was used to questions like these.

"Of course, Yoshino would make a great wife! She cleaned so well!"

At his response, Yoshino turned even redder and made a soft squeak, hastily looking away from Shidou. Although she was originally a spirit and still didn't quite grasp the entire concept of marriage, she had learned enough from the soap operas that she watched to feel embarrassed at his words.

"That's why," Shidou continued. "If there is anything I could do to repay you-"

Yoshino quickly shook her head. "No, it's okay…because…the mess I heard is…partly my fault." She muttered ashamedly, bowing her head.

"Oh don't worry about that." Shidou reassured her. "I heard about what happened, and it's not your fault at all. And besides, Yoshino worked so hard to clean up the mess that I feel as if I just have to repay her." He said kindly.

"Shidou-…san…" Yoshino's little body trembled with emotion at his kindness.

"Hey, Yoshino! It's all right, isn't it?" Chirped in the perky voice of Yoshinon. "Shidou-kun already said it was okay, so it's okay, right?"

Yoshino glanced at the rabbit. "Um…"

"It's fine." Shidou repeated. "You worked hard, so I'll give you a reward."

Yoshino looked up at him. Or more precisely, looked somewhere in his direction, trying to avoid eye contact because she felt she would melt if she saw him eye to eye.

"O-Okay then…Th-thank you, Shidou-san."

"Now that won't do," Shidou replied with a laugh. "I should be thanking you. So come on, just tell me something you would like me to do. I'm free the rest of the day and as long as it's something I can do..."

"Ooh! Yoshino! What about that?!" Interpreted a suddenly excited Yoshinon. Yoshino, however, merely looked at the puppet in confusion.

"That…?"

"You know...that!" Yoshinon leaned into Yoshino's ear to whisper something. Or maybe it just moved its mouth open and shut, Shidou couldn't tell the difference. Yoshino, however, must have picked up on what "that" was because she instantly turned beet red.

"Ehh?! That?! I can't do that!" She cried out suddenly in dismay, causing Shidou to jump. Noticing him, Yoshino instantly covered her mouth and being to apologize.

"Hmm~? No good? Well, then what about…?" Yoshinon once again leaned into Yoshino's ear to say something that only she could hear, only to get more or less the same reaction.

"That's not any better!" She cried and moaned in humiliation.

"Ehh?! I thought that was pretty cool though!" protested Yoshinon.

Yoshinon and Yoshino continued to converse in front of the increasingly uncomfortable Shidou. Nervously, he tried to laugh it off.

"Then…what about that?"

This time Yoshino appeared to consider what Yoshinon said.

"Y-yeah…I think I can do…that…" She said to the puppet. She faced Shidou. "Um…Shidou-san…?"

Shidou, deciding it would be for the best if he pretended to forget the conversation between the two conspirers, replied. "Yes, Yoshino?"

"Um…well….uh…"

Yoshino suddenly sat on the ground and covered her face.

"I can't do it after all!" She quietly squeaked at Yoshinon.

"Ehh?! Come on Yoshino! Fight!" cheered the puppet.

"Um…" Shidou started to say uncertainly.

"See? If you don't say anything, Shidou-kun will think you're weird! Come on, Yoshino!"

"B-but…"

"I'd like to hear Yoshinon's idea!" Shidou interrupted, causing the girl on the floor to jump. He didn't mean to startle her, but he didn't want to sit through another one of those awkward conversations.

"Ooh see!" Yoshinon said to Yoshino. "Shidou-kun is interested! That's right, how will you know how he'll react if you don't tell him the idea?"

"Yeah!" Shidou played along with the puppet. "I'm very interested. I just want to hear what Yoshino has to say!"

The girl in question, however, still looked uncertain. "B-but…"

"If you don't tell him, I'll tell him my first idea."

"EHH?!"

"Shidou-kun! We're going to need some whips and ropes…hmm on second thought maybe ropes wouldn't be strong enough…chains maybe?"

"S-Shidou-san! W-won't you play house with me?"

"…House?" Shidou responded to the panicked outburst, deciding for better or for worse to pretend to not hear whatever the puppet just said.

"Y-yes!" Yoshino squeaked. As she unsteadily got to her feet, looking as if she was struggling hard not to cry. "I…I saw it on…on the television. It's a game where people pretend to be…be a…a family."

Shidou stared blankly "Huh?"

Yoshino bowed her head in depression. "No good?"

"Well, it's not that it's no good..." Shidou trailed uncertainly. Wasn't house a game for little kids? He wanted to ask her. But seeing the pitiful figure of the petite little girl in such a sad mood felt like he would be a terrible person to ask such a question. "I'll do it."

Yoshino lifted her head with wide eyes. "R-Really?!"

Shidou couldn't help but to beam at the excited girl. Her eagerness and cuteness were on par with puppies, and although he could tell she was trying to contain her excitement, her obvious hopeful expression warmed his heart.

"If it's what Yoshino wants to do, I will gladly do it."

Yoshino's face erupted into a wide smile and tears of gratitude started to pour down her face. "T…Thank you!" She ran and gave Shidou a big hug.

"W-wait a second! It wasn't that big of a deal!" Shidou tried to object, but in the end he simply wrapped his own arms around her and patted her back.

"Ooh! Shidou-kun is such a nice person isn't he?!" A close voice behind Shidou exclaimed approvingly. "But…I still wonder what was so wrong with my first idea…" finished the puppet in a disgruntled voice.


	2. Repaid

"So how exactly do you want to do this?" Shidou asked. He hadn't played house in a long time, if not ever. He distinctly thought it was something a younger Kotori would have wanted him to do, but whether or not it actually happened was something he could not answer.

Nonetheless, he didn't know where to begin. So naturally he asked Yoshino. It was her idea and reward, after all.

"Um…" The shy spirit stuttered in her quiet voice. "Well…um…if it would be alright…well….I….I'd like…"

"Yoshino and Shidou-kun would be the mother and father, of course! And Yoshinon can be their child!" The sudden outburst came from the puppet in the girl's left hand. Yoshinon, seeing as how Yoshino was having difficulty speaking and a red face, had taken it upon itself to answer for her. However, instead of assuring Yoshino, the puppet's words instead made the delicate girl turn even redder.

"Hmm…" Shidou murmured. There was nothing wrong with that. To his knowledge, that was how house was usually played. Yet, still he had a somewhat uneasy feeling about that situation. But he could not figure out where it came from.

Seeing his brooding face, Yoshino looked down dejectedly. "…No good?"

Immediately all doubts of the scenario vanquished from Shidou's mind as he saw Yoshino look so sad. He had felt like he had just done something terrible, like hurt a baby animal. "No, no," He quickly reassured her. "If it's what Yoshino wants, I'll gladly do it."

Hearing that, Yoshino brightened considerably. "R-really?!" Her voice could not contain her elation. Shidou could not help but to smile.

"Really."

"Muu~! Shidou-kun! I have an idea!" Yoshinon the puppet spoke up. "If you didn't like the first idea, Yoshinon could take your place as the father and Shidou-kun could be the home-wrecker! Yoshinon has thought of some cool lines to say-"Suddenly Yoshino thrust her left arm into Shidou's face, giving him a sudden frightening close up of the rabbit's unnaturally wide smile and shining red eyes. "How dare you take Yoshino away from Yoshinon?! You filthy animal! Die, you perverted scum! DIE DIE DIE-"

"NO!" Shidou yelped. "T-The first idea was fine. L-let's do that one, okay?"

Yoshinon's bunny ears, which were about a centimeter from Shidou's forehead, twitched. There was second as the puppet seemed to think it over. Then, Yoshino brought her arm back to her side. "Eh, fine. As long as Yoshino is happy, Yoshinon is happy as well. But it's a shame that you won't hear Yoshinon's lines. There was much more where that came from!"

Shidou shuddered involuntarily.

Yoshino, looking slightly ashamed at her puppet's mannerisms, averted her gaze aside.

There was a small uncomfortable pause where the both of them waited for the other to say something. It was Shidou that spoke up.

"So should we, um, begin?"

"Eh?" Yoshino looked back at Shidou with a look that much resembled a deer in the headlights. "Ehhh…?!"

"Muu~. Not so fast Shidou-kun!" Yoshinon interjected. "No need to rush into these things. Why don't you go outside for a walk or something while Yoshino gets ready?"

"Huh? A walk?" Shidou replied, somewhat confused. "But-"

"Shidou-kun." The bunny once again got into Shidou's face, glaring menacingly at the boy. The rest of Yoshino, on the other hand, seemed to want to shrink away from Shidou as she shut her eyes and leaned back. "A walk sound nice. Doesn't it?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good! Now off you go! Come back in around an hour, okay?" The bunny said as it bonked it's head on Shidou's head, as if too prod him along. Not wanting to upset the pair, Shidou swiftly turned around and headed outside. Before he left, however, he overheard Yoshinon say one more thing to Yoshino.

"Just do what Yoshinon says and everything will work out!"

He turned around in time to catch Yoshino nod her head in response obediently. For some reason upon observing that exchange, that uneasy feeling from before returned to him. Shaking it off, Shidou headed off on his walk, ignoring the fact that he was more or less kicked out of his house.

Around an hour or so later (Shidou couldn't tell exactly how long he had been out since he had forgotten to bring a watch), with the sun about to set in the sky, Shidou returned to his house. Just before opening it, however, he paused. Should he knock? Even though this was his house, he knew Yoshino and Yoshinon were likely waiting for him in there. Shaking his head, he decided against it. Husbands didn't knock anyway. He took a deep breath and put his hand on the doorknob. He turns it.

The sight that greets him isn't at all at what he thought it would be. In fact, there wasn't really a sight at all. The house appeared to be as untouched as it did when they had just cleaned it. A sudden terrible thought hit him: What if it was later than he thought it was and Yoshino went home? He cursed himself inwardly for forgetting his watch.

But it wasn't raining. Which meant Yoshino was at least stable. Wandering somewhere into the middle of the dark room, he decided to try to call out to her.

"Yoshino…?" He asked aloud. "I'm…back."

There was a small silence in the room as Shidou felt himself growing more and more worried for what he did to the poor girl when-

"MUU~!" A familiar voice of a puppet yelled behind him and the lights turned on. "SO LATE SHID-ah….PAPA!"

Despite hearing that Shidou sighed in relief. At least she was still here. "Sorry, Yoshino," He said turning around to greet her. "I forgot to bring my…my….EHHH?!"

Upon seeing her, Shidou couldn't help but to stop what he was saying and widen his eyes. Yoshino was wearing a frill white apron that thankfully was big and long enough to cover her private parts. But she was wearing nothing else. Shidou couldn't help but to stare at her for a few seconds, before common sense washed over him and he shut his eyes.

"Y-Y-Y-Yoshino?!" Shidou stammered.

Yoshino was clearly very embarrassed, as she stood completely still with a beet red face and her eyes shut, so she wouldn't have to look at Shidou. Her entire body coiled up as if she wanted to disappear. Forcibly, she spoke in an unnaturally high voice.

"S-Shidou-san!" She half-yelled. "W-Would you like d-dinner?! O-Or a bath?! O-O-Or…..O-or…." Yoshino sounded like she was about to break. However, Yoshinon was not deterred.

"Come on, Yoshino!" It whispered into her ears. "Remember what they did next in the soap opera! This is a chance to get Shidou to "create" love to you or something like that!"

Yoshino gasped for air and tried to calm herself to say the last part. She did want Shidou create love with her, although she didn't know exactly what that meant when she saw it in the show. The screen had blacked out, but she did know the characters appeared very happy afterwards. And she could feel her heart pounding.

"O-Or…would you like… _me?"_ She squeaked in terror.

There was a very uncomfortable silence following her question. Yoshino slowly opened her eyes to look at Shidou. She blinked at him, with his hand covering his eyes. He looked very, very red.

"Um…Shidou…-san?"

"SHIDOU-KUN!" Yoshinon abruptly cut in. "Answer Yoshino's question! And what was the deal with calling Yoshino by name earlier?! Aren't you married?! Why didn't you call her 'sweetie' or 'honey' or-"

"D-Dinner!" Shidou yelped. "I-I'll have dinner first thanks!"

Yet another pause came in as both Yoshino and Yoshinon took in his answer.

"O-Oh yes! Right away!" Yoshino hastily agreed. As she scampered away to the kitchen.

"Yoshino! What are you doing?!" Hissed the puppet on her hand. As she prepared a small meal she had learned how to cook from Reine.

"S-Shidou-san is hungry!" Yoshino whispered in reply. "W-What else am I supposed to do? Now the veggies go here…I think…" She muttered the last part to herself, putting the vegetables she cut on a frying pan.

As she finished cooking, Shidou called out to her from the dining room. "Yoshino? Um, not to be rude…but can I ask why you're wearing…that?"

Yoshino reddened at the question and the immodesty of her attire. "Oh…that. Well, Yoshinon said-"

"Stupid Shidou! It's because you're supposed to tackle her in a rush of lustful desire and then the screen turns black and you "create" love or something!"

"E-Eh?!"

"Yoshinon!"

The puppet turned toward Yoshino with a confused puppet expression. "What…?"

The vegetables sizzled in the pan as Yoshinon hit itself with its hand. "OH! Sorry. Stupid Papa!"

"T-That's not the problem here!"

Sighing was all Shidou could do.

Dinner was finally ready. Yoshino, now in her normal attire, set the table and nervously fidgeted in her seat as Shidou and her stared at the meal that she had prepared.

"You know…I can't help but feel guilty about this…" Shidou commented absently. "I mean, I was supposed to return a favor to you, and yet here I am eating something you cooked."

"I'm…sorry…"

"No, no, no. I'm not saying it's your fault." He added quickly. An awkward silence followed that silence. "Well, then. Thanks for the food." Shidou said as he used his chopsticks to pick up some of the food. As he took a bite, Yoshino shut her eyes, waiting for his reaction.

"Huh?" Shidou started. "This is…" He swallowed the food. "Amazing!" He reached to grab a second bite. "Yoshino, where'd you- wait why are you crying?!"

Yoshino, who had feared the worst after hearing Shidou's voice, had tears streaming down her face. But now that she had heard that is was delicious she couldn't stop crying. It was a tremendous relief.

"H-Hey…" Shidou called out uncertainly.

"Papa, why don't you let Mama feed you?" Yoshinon blurted out abruptly. That was enough to make Yoshino stop crying.

"EHH?" Shidou and Yoshino shouted in surprise.

"Come on, it can't be that bad!"

"Er…" Shidou looked at Yoshino. A mistake. Although she had reacted the same way vocally, she had such a wistful expression on her face. In Yoshino's mind she must already picturing it happening.

He cast his gaze back on the meal. Ah, what's the harm? "I don't mind."

"R-Really?!" Yoshino squeaked giddily before turning red and covering her mouth.

He smiled at her blankly. She really was cute. If only he didn't have such a weakness for such things…

"Go ahead."

"Then…excuse me!"

Yoshino rose from her seat and scampered over to Shidou's side, as if she were afraid he would change his mind. She reached over and picked up a piece of beef, the main course of the meal.

"S-Shidou-san. I-if you'd please…"

Shidou blinked at her dumbly. "Please, what?"

"….Say Ahh."

"O-oh yes. Ahh-MMMF!"

As soon as he completed the phrase, Yoshino shoved the beef into his mouth, almost making him choke on it. Coughing it down, he wiped his mouth. "T-Thanks..."

Yoshinon spoke up from her other hand. "Oho~! He liked it Yoshino!"

"Y-yes..." Yoshino said looking at the ground.

"Do it again!"

"O-okay!"

"Huh?" Shidou piped up in alarm. "W-wait can you do it a little less force–MFFFF!"

After dinner, Shidou went to the bath. He needed to take one, since he had neglected to take one before. It was also a chance for a little bit of breathing room. The girl and her puppet had almost killed him at dinner. It was like a miracle that he managed to eat almost every bite that he did. Yoshinon had suggested that he take a bath while Yoshino cleaned up, and he hastily agreed. He sighed and took a deep breath, letting the pleasant warming water soak over his body. Relaxing to say the least.

What wasn't relaxing was the door opening a few seconds later. Shidou whirled around in a panic. Who was there? Kotori? No, she wasn't supposed to be back yet. Then, it had to be-

"Papa!"

"S-Shidou-san…"

"Y-Yoshino?!"

"Eh?! Haven't we talked about this before? Call her 'sweetie' or 'honey', damn it!"

"Oh right, honey. Wait, that's not the problem here!"

Shidou gasped heavily as he saw Yoshino step in the bath in front of him-

She was wearing a swimsuit.

Well that was a relief.

….

Wait, what was she doing here?

"What are you doing here?"

Yoshino averted her eyes from his gaze. "A-am I not allowed?"

"W-well that's to say-"

"Of course you're allowed!" Yoshinon decided. "It is a wife's duty to wash her husband's back!"

 _Oh so that's what this is about_. Shidou thought. In that case, I'll just kindly tell her that-

"Wait Mama and Yoshinon are in front of Papa…which means-"

"EEP!" Shidou shrieked in a high-pitched voice as he came to this realization. In a rapid flurry of movement, he whirled around to expose his back to Yoshino.

"Ahh, there we go! Thanks, Papa!" Yoshinon said to him. "Now Mama, do your best!"

"W-wait-"Shidou desperately tried to say. "I can do it my-"

"MMMFFFF!" Shidou was interrupted by a muffled voice from Yoshinon as he felt some type of cloth rub over his back. "MMMGG" The puppet kept letting out strangled sounds until Yoshino stopped rubbing his back and went to get more soap.

"H-hey! What's the deal with using _Yoshinon_ to do the dirty work?!" it said indignantly. "I've never heard of using a child as a cloth!"

"B-but…" Yoshino told it. "I don't know where Shidou-san keeps his towels…"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to use me! Why not use something else? Oh, Yoshinon knows! Use your panti-MMGH!" Yoshinon was cut off as Shidou felt something shoved into his back rather hard.

"U-um..." Shidou tried to say, but the noises Yoshinon made were far louder than he was. Sighing, he decided to just let it happen. Of course, this meant he'd have to wash Yoshinon later, but the sooner it was over the better.

"GEEZ! Yoshinon is much more familiar with Papa than necessary! Yoshinon should call child services or something!" The puppet had been yapping nonstop since they had exited the bath (Yoshino got out first of course).

The two sat around the dining table, not really making eye contact after the bath. They simply listened to Yoshinon rant. Eventually, however, Yoshinon ran out of things to complain about. Shidou checked the time.

"It is getting quite late." He noted.

"It is?!" Yoshinon repeated shocked. "Oh no! Yoshino, at this rate you'll miss your chance."

"Eh?! Ehh…" Yoshino reddened in reply to Yoshinon.

"Chance? What do you mean?" Shidou asked.

"Eh…um…" Yoshino murmured softly. "I-if's it's okay, c-can we go up to Shidou's room?"

"Huh? Sure, but why?"

"B-because….that's where we 'create' love!"

"Oh, okay….wait, WHAT?!"

But he wasn't able to get any more than that as Yoshino grasped his arm and dragged him up to his room. Once inside, Yoshino shut the door behind them and turned to face Shidou with an abashed look.

"W-wait Yoshino! Think about what you're doing!"

"It's okay!" Yoshino replied back. "I don't mind, since it's with Shidou-san."

She took a step closer and he took a step back. There was no way this was real, right? Yoshino can't be this bold. Yes, this surely must mean he's dreaming. He took another step back as she took another step forward. He gave himself a slight pinch to try and wake up. It hurt. So then that meant this wasn't a dream? But something like this couldn't be possibly be happening! Not like this!

Yoshino inched forward once more, but Shidou had no more room to back up. His bed was right behind him, and he stumbled over it, falling on top of it. Yoshino did not quit, as she timidly moved up to Shidou, who was lying on the bed paralyzed with trepidation. Taking a deep breath as if to reassure herself, she silently lifted her leg up and hoisted herself on top of him, and inched her face close to him.

Their faces were so close that Shidou could feel her breathing on his face. He needed to move, this situation was dangerous! But…he couldn't move. Silently, he cursed his weak will and waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened for the longest while, until finally Yoshino addressed her puppet.

"Um…what am I supposed to do now, Yoshinon?"

"Huh?! How should Yoshinon know?! The screen blacked out after this! Wasn't this it?"

"Er…but I don't feel any different…"

"Are you sure?! Hmm…we must have messed up somewhere, then. Hey, Papa? What is Yoshino supposed to do to 'create' love?"

"Huh?!" Shidou opened his eyes in surprise to see a very confused Yoshino.

"U-um…Shidou-san? T-this is embarrassing!" the lost girl admitted.

Shidou merely sighed. She really didn't know what to do. Well, it was a relief. Now to fix this problem. He reached up to grab Yoshino, earning him a yelp of surprise from her, and gently lifted her off him and onto the floor, much to her added confusion.

"B-but…that's what they did in the show…"

"Yoshino." Shidou sat up, and took a few deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart. Finally, he was able to speak. "We don't need to do this."

"B-but-"

"Yoshino, what do you think love is?"

His question caught her off guard. She closed her mouth and simply peered at him uncertainly, as if waiting for him to keep talking. And so he did.

"I think love is when two people care very deeply for each other. When a person would do anything for another person without any question in their mind. Does that sound right to you?"

Yoshino tilted her head in concentration as she thought about it. "I-I'm not sure. But if Shidou-san says it is…"

"Then Yoshino, do you care deeply about me?"

Yoshino eyes widened. "E-eh?!" Slowly, she regained her composure. She looked away from him, and shyly answered. "Y-yes."

"Would you do anything for me, without questioning it?"

"O-of course!" Yoshino answered more definitely. "S-Shidou-san saved my life!"

"And I too care very much and would do anything for you."

Yoshino blushed and took a step back as if she wanted to run away. But she managed to hold her ground. Shidou walked up to the girl and gave her a hug.

"…And so, wouldn't you say we already have love?"

Yoshino, squirmed in his grasp uncomfortably, but she had nowhere to go.

"Yes…" Giving in, Yoshino whispered barely. "I…love Shidou-san."

Shidou let her go. But she didn't run. Fidgeting slightly, Yoshino seemed to wait for Shidou to act.

"I love Yoshino as well." He told her, causing her to blush violently. "And so, don't you see? We don't need to 'create' love. We already have it!"

"Eh?" Yoshino replied in surprise. She looked at the rabbit puppet as if she were consulting it. Finally, she turned toward Shidou. Slowly she smiled.

"Y-yes! I understand!"

Shidou sighed in relief. Well, he managed to avoid a bullet there. When did he become such a smooth talker? He wondered. But it wasn't that. He talked what he really felt. He talked the truth. And maybe that's what worked the best. Or at least in a situation like this one.

"Come on, then. It's getting a little late." Shidou opened the door and stepped out. Holding the door for her. "Let me walk you back-" He paused as a sudden though came to hand. Putting on a wide smile he looked straight at the girl as he addressed her. "…sweetie"

Yoshino instantly reacted to the word. Her head jerked up in surprise as her eyes widened. From her hand, Yoshinon chortled gleefully. "That's the stuff, Papa! Ooo~ look how happy she is!"

Indeed, Yoshino, replaying the word in her head, had a small silly grin plastered on her face without realizing it. "Sweetie…hehe."

Shidou simply bit his tongue as he watched her. It felt a little weird to call someone that. But seeing the look on her face was worth it enough. Nicknames were definitely not his thing, but just this one time should be okay.

But what if he had to use it again, he wondered. He shook his head. He would not have to think of such things for a while. He sighed one last time as he and Yoshino made their way out of his room and house, and walked into the dark outside. It's been one long day, he mused. But he didn't mind it.

 **Thanks for reading! Let me know about errors or what you thought! I appreciate it!**


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